The Rural Voice, 1989-01, Page 23fertilizer. The profit just isn't there in
the beef industry to justify the higher
cost of spreading fertilizer."
Chemical sprays are avoided as
much as possible. The home farm
hasn't seen chemicals since Fischer
sprayed for sow thistles for his father-
in-law in 1960. One grain field did
have to be sprayed for mustard this
year. Plowing for the mixed grain
fields is done as late in the fall as pos-
sible — usually the last of November
— to minimize weed growth.
Fischer always waits until spring
to plow his sod fields for corn.
"People frown on it because everyone
else plows in the fall," he says. But
spring -plowing works best for him.
"We get one crop of grass off it in late
May or early June."
The Fischers were able to get
enough haylage off a 10 -acre field to
fill a 12 x 35 foot silo — enc igh to
feed 37 head of finishing cattle until
corn silage time in the fall. Manure is
spread as soon as the haylage crop is
off and the land is plowed down and
worked. The corn is planted as
quickly as possible and packed. It is
scuffled at least once, and often twice
if the Fischers can make time to do it.
A row -crop cultivator, which
resembles a rototiller, is used. It hills
the corn the second time through.
Fischer finds that the land will only
support silage corn, not grain corn.
His cattle are finished on grain and
silage along with haylage.
Fischer always attempts to balance
Armand Fischer:
"Our yields are
not much less
than what they
were when we
were using
fertilizer. The
profit just isn't
there in the beef
industry to justify
the higher cost
of spreading
fertilizer."
the number of cattle he keeps with his
crop yields. Sometimes he has to buy
in hay and sometimes he sells a few
head, but he never buys in any cattle.
All finished cattle are shipped
directly to various packers from whom
Fischer finds he gets better prices. "If
I have an Al dressed carcass I should
be getting an A 1 price for it at the stock-
yards, but I don't get that. If you
don't have a big herd, you don't get
that top price. They don't know you."
Cattle from the Fischer farm have
been shipped directly to slaughter
houses for more than 10 years. "I just
didn't want to get told I had poor cat-
tle when I knew I had Als," Fischer
says. Of all the cattle he's sold over
the years, only about 20 have been
graded as Bs or Cs.
"A few are poor and I don't mind
being paid what they're worth, but
you're always getting 10 cents a
pound less than what they're worth at
the stockyards."
Neither does Fischer like being at
the mercy of the markets. He would
like to see some type of marketing
system to stabilize the beef industry
and give farmers a fair price.
The Fischers are fortunate to have
the added income of an egg cheque
from the 1,400 laying hens they have
under a contract with a local hatchery.
The 17 to 18 -week-old birds are kept
for 13 months. Fischer supplies the
building and the egg gathering equip-
ment and collects the eggs each night.
They are picked up by the poultry
farm, which uses them for hatching in
their incubators. The birds use auto-
matic feeders and the barn is equipped
with automatic lighting. Fischer is
paid a price per egg for his services.
All feed is trucked in by the poultry
farm. Fischer is one of only two
farmers who continue to contract out
in the area. At one time as many as 30
local farmers kept birds for hatching.
Overhead costs, Fischer finds, are
too high. The slatted floor barn has
not been a paying proposition, even
though he built it himself in 1980.
Likewise, in hindsight, he probably
wouldn't have put up airtight silos,
even though they save time and work
— "and it sure is nice to go out and
push the buttons," Doris says. "The
investment was too big for the beef
operation," Fischer adds.
Round balers were just being
introduced to the Ontario market when
the Fischers built their sealed silos and
bought their haylage equipment and,
looking back, Fischer says, they prob-
ably should have chosen round balers
to reduce overhead costs. They chose
haylage rather than square bales so
that working together they could get
the crop in without needing extra help.
Farming 300 acres of workable
land is a full-time job for the couple.
"I haven't plowed 30 acres in the past
10 years and I haven't harvested 10
acres," Fischer says. The only thing I
do is seeding. Doris does the culti-
vating and packing. It's a 50-50 deal.
Fischer is a past director of the
Normanby Township Federation of
Agriculture and a member of the Grey
County Cattlemen and the Beef Pro-
ducers for Change. He is also enrolled
in the Red Meat Plan. He believes
that all farmers should belong to some
type of farm organization.
Farming is stressful and the
Fischers take time to get away for an
occasional holiday (otherwise "you go
crazy," Fischer says). He collects old
farm machinery and other antiques
and is restoring an antique car.
It is highly unlikely that the prob-
lems in the beef industry are going to
change overnight. Cost-cutting and
sound management have been valu-
able to the Fischers, but probably the
key factor in their success has been
the hard work and dedication of this
husband and wife team.0
JANUARY 1989 21